 Correct.
 And the
great dragon was thrown down,
the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole
world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with
him." Revelation 12:9 (NAS)
As we saw in the previous scenes of Revelation,
the images given are not real physical things (e.g.,
dragons), but instead are images used as
word-pictures.
Most people that have read the New Testament will
quickly realize the similarity between the images in
the first part of the chapter and the story of
Jesus. Let's look at these similarities below:
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Comparing
Revelation 12 to the Story of Jesus |
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Revelation 12:1-6 (NAS) |
Summary of the Story of Jesus: |
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1A woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of
twelve stars;
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In the book of
Genesis, God made certain promises to
Abraham. All the nations of the earth
were to be blessed by a coming child, who
would be a descendant of Abraham through his
son Isaac.
Genesis
22:18 "And in your seed all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed, because you have
obeyed My voice." (NAS)
God's chosen people prior to the coming
of the Messiah were the 12 tribes or
descendants of Israel (also called the
Israelites, children of Israel, the Jews).
Israel (also called Jacob) was one of
Isaac's twin sons. The story of
the 12 tribes of Israel and the promises
made by God to them are contained in the Old
Testament. Jesus at one time told His
12 apostles:
And
Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that
you who have followed Me, in the
regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on
His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Matthew 19:28 (NAS) |
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2and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in
pain to give birth.
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Jesus (the
Christ...the Messiah) was born from the
tribe of Judah, one of the 12 tribes of
Israel. Jesus' mother (the virgin
named Mary) and her husband Joseph were both
descendants of Abraham through Israel's son
Judah (see genealogies at Matthew 1:1-16 and
Luke 3:23-38). At birth, Jesus came from
His mother Mary's womb. In another
sense, Jesus was born from this nation of
God, the Israelites. |
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3And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great
red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven
diadems.
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We know from
Revelation 12:9 that the great red dragon is
the devil (Satan). We will look at the
significance of the seven heads, ten horns
and seven diadems (crowns) later in this
lesson. |
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4And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw
them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give
birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. |
From Jesus'
birth, Satan attempted to have Jesus killed
in many ways, including king Herod's
murdering of the newborns in the village of
Bethlehem (see Matthew 2:1-18). Satan
was also involved in the temptation of Jesus
in the wilderness after Jesus was baptized
in the river Jordan (see Matthew 3:13 -
4:11) and in the temptation of Judas, the
one who betrayed Jesus before His
crucifixion on the cross (see Luke 22:3-6). |
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5And she gave
birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of
iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. |
Jesus will
reign forever and His kingdom will have no
end:
"And
behold, you will conceive in your womb, and
bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.
32"He will be great, and will be
called the Son of the Most High; and the
Lord God will give Him the throne of His
father David; 33and He will reign
over the house of Jacob forever; and His
kingdom will have no end." Luke 1:31-33
(NAS)
Jesus is the Messiah...the Christ...the Son
of God. He is the One who was prophesied to
rule with a rod of iron:
"I
will surely tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, 'Thou art My Son, today I
have begotten Thee. 8 'Ask of me,
and I will surely give the nations as Thine
inheritance, and the very ends of the earth
as Thy possession. 9 'Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt
shatter them like earthenware.'" Psalm 2:7-9
(NAS)
Shortly after Jesus' death on the cross
and resurrection from the dead, He ascended
up to heaven to be seated at the right hand
of the throne of God:
Now
the main point in what has been said is this:
we have such a high priest (Jesus Christ),
who has taken His seat at the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
Hebrews 8:1 (NAS)
...fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,
who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (NAS) |
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6And the woman fled
into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she
might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
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After Jesus
ascended into heaven, the plan of salvation
and obedience to the gospel was spoken to
the Jews in Jerusalem (see Acts chapters
1-2). It was also spoken to the
Gentiles...and those Jews and Gentiles who
obeyed were added by God to the numbers
being saved (see Acts 2:38-47).
However, Satan would continue his attacks
against God's people now that the Son was in
heaven. These followers of Jesus would
soon see persecution and be scattered abroad
(see Acts 8:1, Acts 11:19).
And
Saul was in hearty agreement with putting
him to death. And on that day a great
persecution arose against the church in
Jerusalem; and they were all scattered
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria,
except the apostles. Acts 8:1 (NAS)
For the true followers of God and Christ,
this world is not our home, but rather we
long for the day in which we are taken to
our eternal home that Jesus has gone to
prepare:
"All
these died in faith, without receiving the
promises, but having seen them and having
welcomed them from a distance, and having
confessed that they were strangers and
exiles on the earth. 14For those
who say such things make it clear that they
are seeking a country of their own. 15And
indeed if they had been thinking of that
country from which they went out, they would
have had opportunity to return. 16But
as it is, they desire a better country, that
is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not
ashamed to be called their God; for He has
prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16
(NAS) |
After the woman (who perhaps symbolizes the
family of God, the body of believers) flees into the
wilderness to escape the persecution of Satan, John
sees in his vision a war in heaven:
7And
there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels
waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his
angels waged war, 8and they were not
strong enough, and there was no longer a place found
for them in heaven. 9And the great dragon
was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were
thrown down with him." Revelation 12:7-9 (NAS)
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